Near field communication (NFC) refers to short-range wireless radio communication based on NFC standards. While the term ‘short-range’ is not precisely defined, the maximum distance for NFC radio communication is about 20 centimeters (about 8 inches) at the time of filing of this patent application. Without limitation, NFC radio communication typically occurs over distances on the order of 4 centimeters (about 1.5 inches). NFC is an open platform technology that is governed by the ECMA-340 standard and the ISO/IEC 18092 standard. It is understood that NFC standards continue to evolve as the technology and applications of the technology are elaborated and refined. NFC radio communication may be used for financial transactions such as completing a payment transaction from a mobile phone encapsulating an electronic credit card and/or debit card to a point-of-sale (POS) terminal.
A secure element (SE) may store confidential information such as financial account balances, fund balances, and/or electronic money and/or access codes such as building entry codes, hotel room entry codes, rental car activation codes. The secure element may be a specialized semiconductor device and/or semiconductor chip that is designed to thwart attempts to reverse engineer the secure element or to physically slice and examine the secure element under a microscope. In an embodiment, one or more secure elements may be provided in a separate memory chip or a plurality of separate memory chips. The secure element may allow only a limited number of applications to access the secure element and/or may limit the functions that may be initiated by those applications. In an embodiment, a near field communication transceiver may be coupled to a secure element to promote secure payment interactions between the secure element and a point-of-sale terminal.